It is the age of digitization and advances in technology, but customers still want the hands-on experience of direct mail marketing. That’s not to say that these two things need to be separate though. With advancing technologies comes the opportunity to optimize and streamline direct mail marketing. Below are a few ways that you can combine technology with traditional direct mail to create a marketing channel that is affordable, easy to manage, and incredibly effective.
Data acquisition through direct mail
One of the complaints of traditional direct mail is that it can be difficult to track. This is a problem of the past.
By printing a QR code onto your direct mail marketing materials, you can track the effectiveness of your campaign based on how your customers engage with the accompanying digital channel.
This marketing technique naturally goes hand in hand with the already impressive engagement rates of direct mail marketing. Adding a QR code to your direct mail just makes the process of engaging with an online source even easier for your customers.
In fact, studies have found that over half of direct mail recipients went on to engage further, either online or in-store.
Here’s an extra tip: have the QR code link to an online questionnaire. That way you can use the high engagement levels of direct mail marketing for a direct mail data collection strategy. Which leads us nicely onto our next point.
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Using data to optimize your direct mail marketing
There are still a number of businesses that don’t invest much into direct mail marketing. This is mostly due to the costs involved compared to cheaper alternatives like email marketing. While the proven effectiveness of direct mail over email marketing already resolves this issue of investment, there are also several ways to optimize the cost-effectiveness of a direct mail marketing campaign.
Tailor your marketing to your customers
Use the customer data you’ve gathered to tailor your promotions to each individual lead. For example, you could analyze a customer’s purchase history and market a product to them based on their buying habits.
There’s no point marketing something that your leads don’t want or need. Using an online data collection tool is a great way to identify exactly what type of direct mail marketing will work for your customers.
Use segmentation to optimize campaigns
Similarly, if you’re releasing a new product and want to close as many early sales as possible, consider targeting only those who are most likely to buy.
Optimizing your direct mail marketing with customer segmentation is a great way to maximize your return on investment. There are a number of services that can help segment your customers based on a variety of customizable criteria.
Automating the whole process
As there are far more steps involved, the logistics of a direct mail marketing campaign can be somewhat off-putting to marketers. Emails can be written and sent with the pressing of a few buttons, but direct mail takes time.At least, it does if you don’t integrate your direct mail campaign with marketing automation software.
Now your direct mail marketing campaign can be fully automated, making the printing and distribution of promotional materials as easy as sending an email.You can even use integrations to set up direct mail marketing triggers. For instance, you can send tailored direct mail marketing as the result of a successful sale, or an abandoned shopping cart.
With this blend of direct mail and technological advances, you can achieve the amazing results of a direct mail marketing campaign without the greater investment of time and money.
Add personalization with technology.
Studies have found that personalizing a direct mail marketing campaign can yield an increase in ROI of anywhere between 300 and 1000%. That goes to show that it is absolutely worth evolving your direct mail marketing into a memorable, engaging, personalized experience.
One great way of doing this is by showing your customers how much you care about them with a personal handwritten letter. In fact, making all of your direct mail marketing handwritten is proven to increase engagement rates by as much 91%.
Naturally, writing all of your direct mail marketing by hand is going to take a lot of time, not to mention money paying someone to get their wrists achey! Luckily technology can help with that too.
With our personalized handwritten notes service, you can create custom handwritten notes at scale. So whether you’re reaching out to one customer, or 100,000, sending personalized handwritten marketing couldn’t be easier. You can even segment your recipients and automate the entire process with our seamless integrations.
To find out more about how we can help you optimize and streamline your direct mail marketing, do check us out and feel free to get in touch or order your free Scribeless sample!
